Stu Schmill
“When I graduated, I never thought I’d come back. I was working in the engineering industry–I had a job and everything–but one year later, I found myself back at MIT as head coach of the crew team. Who would have thought! The job made me very happy. I had been on the crew team all four years at MIT. Yet, in the back of my mind, I was worried what my parents would think. Not because of their expectations for me; no, they had always been very supportive. Instead, I think it had to do with the internal expectations I held for myself. As an MIT graduate, I think I felt I had to work in industry or that I had to be an engineer or that I had to stay on the “track” that I was on. But as it turns out, I didn’t.
I took another step in that direction, and another step, and I’m still here, 30 years later. So, if I had any advice for others, it would be to slowly shed all expectations. The more you shed what people think of you and what you should do (or what you think people think of you and what you should do), the closer you’ll get to finding what you love.”
Date: May 18, 2018